


eat the rich!

by coffeeshop_au



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: College AU, Enemies to Lovers, Friends With Benefits, M/M, Rich Harry, Slow Burn, communist louis, more like person-i-dont-like-to-friends-to-friends-with-benefits-to-lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23465122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeeshop_au/pseuds/coffeeshop_au
Summary: Louis is a communist who studies political sciences with his best friend Zayn. Harry studies history of art and has too much money.They don't like each other... until they do.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	1. the escape

“Mate, run!” Zayn whisper-shouts, as people start running in all directions and he’s struck with an anxious feeling in his chest, triggered by the chaotic atmosphere that surrounds the scene they find themselves in. It’s the quickest dispersion of a crowd he’s ever seen, and he’s done this many times before. He shifts his weight onto his right foot as to incline his body and look around the corner of the block into the relative dark of night, trying to get a sense of just how fucked they are and how fast they need to run. The answer, to nobody’s surprise, is: they have to bolt as fast as humanly possible; otherwise they’re going to be in serious trouble. So, he looks back at Louis’ shocked face, as he just stands there watching people run and taking the situation in, to reiterate “What the fuck are you waiting for? Go, go, go!”  
Louis takes that as his cue to finally snap back into reality, grabbing Zayn’s hand and pulling him away from the direction he was looking at, running as fast as they can before they can possibly be seen. Auto-pilot takes over and it’s honestly a mystery how they think to turn right from Downing Street, run three blocks ahead and then turn left. It’s all big historical buildings going by in a blur, cars, bright street lights in the margins of the Thames and maybe a couple commercial establishments open, but they don’t stop to take note as they rush by. They only stop when they realize that autopilot took them to the tall old-looking building that is the Westminster tube station in front of the Big Ben.  
They get in there and it’s only then that they really take in their surroundings, as they’re grabbing their oyster cards from their jackets. The station is surprisingly packed, for it being 8 PM and not too busy outside. Louis always thinks, every time they go into one of these tube stations in older parts of the city, about how weird it is that they look really old (even if well preserved) on the outside but more modern on inside, like everything’s made of steel. It’s an interesting duality that he feels represents the city really well, in that it shows how the old and the modern can coexist and complement each other. It’s one of the many things he’s still trying to grow accustomed to about London, and he hopes someday it can feel like home for him. He honestly loves the city, it’s just... A lot. Not what he’s used to. Not only that, but now he feels like they’re walking into a different reality as they look at all these people going about their lives- maybe going home to rest after a tiring day, maybe going to meet a loved one, maybe going into a night shift at work. Or, as in Louis’ and Zayn’s case, back to university after almost getting into a confrontation with police at a protest.  
It’s not that they’re not used to it, they’ve been through things like this a thousand times before as they’ve been involved in student movements ever since sixth form, it’s common when you go to most protests. Sometimes, there is police. Sometimes, there are confronts between police and protesters. Sometimes, there aren’t. Today they were lucky enough to hear the police from a distance and have the time to run away, but that doesn’t always happen.  
“You okay?” Louis speaks as he catches his breath, for what feels like the first time in forever, as they’re going down the escalator.  
“Yeah, ‘m fine. You?”  
“God… That was insane!”  
“Good fucking fun, though, wasn’t it?”  
As they ride the tube (which, thankfully, is not so crowded at that time of night), the way to their dorms is filled with jokes, banter and nervous energy from the adrenaline rush they just experienced. They’re sat down on the sits, talking shit and not really paying attention to anything. It was one of those nights when everything feels light and you can just enjoy a good conversation with your friends, the stress of living day to day to day life as a university student who also has to work to support yourself. At one point, they stop at Green Park Station to get out of the tube and make a connection, and it doesn’t even bother them that the other tube takes another ten minutes to get there.  
Zayn and Louis are childhood best friends; they’ve known each other the beginning of secondary school. They studied at the same schools in the relatively small town they were born in, up north. Their days were usually spent together, playing ball or something like Mario Kart or Zelda on their videogames. Usually at Louis’ house. Zayn spent so much time there, actually, that Johanna, as kind as she always is, started to consider him as her son. She was always welcoming and loving towards him, and it honestly felt like a second home. He even treated Louis’ sisters as his own, helping them choose outfits, make their hair and even giving advice about their dating lives.  
They began their interest for politics when they were in sixth form. Zayn started to read about economics and political sciences, getting involved with the student movement by meeting older students who protested. Louis got interested too, and by the half of first year of sixth form both of them decided they wanted to study something relating to that, and that only served to strengthen their bond. And that’s how they ended up moving to go to uni, only a few months ago.  
They have this interesting dynamic that works really well, because Louis is –although really intelligent and a great student- a classic class clown, while Zayn is calm and collected with this mysterious aura about him. He is the kind of person with a strong presence but in a quiet, intellectual and almost unimpressed way. Not that he’s not kind or that he’s unpleasant to hang out with, as his presence is also soothing, he’s just more likely to not be the centre of attention or to speak loudly at all. Louis, though, is naturally the centre of attention. He’s loud, bubbly, and really funny. These two different personalities mash together well, because Louis brings out the louder and fun-loving side of Zayn and Zayn represents to Louis a profound bond and a more one-on-one friendship that Louis might miss if he were only in friend groups he attracts. Together, they combine the best of both worlds, being a classic friendship between an extrovert and an introvert. That’s how they’ve always been, ever since they’ve known each other, this unbreakable bond.  
They get out of the tube at Warren Street around twenty minutes after getting into Westminster and walk around three blocks to the university, now relieved that they’re going to be able to just chill and be dumb for a bit after the whole madness. They walk into the gate, towards the beautiful patio with the small gardens, paths made out of cobblestone and water fountais, dimly lit by night. It’s a beautiful night, not too cold, which is very unusual to a November night in London. That’s fortunate for them, since they’re not wearing appropriate clothing for weather any colder than it is. Zayn’s in dark jeans with rips on the knees, a black turtleneck and a basic leather and Louis is in matching Adidas jacket and tracksuit paints, both black.  
“Wanna go to mine?” Zayn invites, as they walk into the building. Louis agrees, and when they open the door into the almost empty white room with two single beds covered in black bedsheets and two studying tables, they notice they’re not alone. Liam, Zayn’s roommate who studies history of art, is there sat on his bed talking to another man, each holding a can of beer and listening to what Louis assumes to be Trap music but Louis has no idea who the musician is or any detail beside the general music genre. It really isn’t his style. He’s into his northern roots of Britpop and Alternative Rock, and it’s not that he’s closed minded; it’s just that Trap is really bad. What isn’t bad, though, is the way the guy talking to Liam looks.  
Liam’s friend is tall, skinny but slightly muscular, which makes it clear that he does some kind of sport, and he has fair skin and long-ish brown curls. He’s wearing black skinny jeans that hug his toned thighs perfectly, a green basketball t-shirt with what is probably some team’s name written on it (Louis assumes, he wouldn’t know either way because he doesn’t really know basketball, as his sport of choice is football) and his hair tied with a bandana. Maybe it’s just the way the light falls on him that’s flattering but every detail about him seems to simply fit perfectly together in a way which makes him seem almost angelic, like he’s not from this plane of existence- he’s… beautiful, there’s no other way to put it. Not only that, there’s something about him which kind of feels like a warning, as if he’s one of those people who are beautiful and have a captivating aura but not much else. Either way, he’s gorgeous. Louis normally isn’t one to be at a loss for words, but this curly-haired man does it.


	2. first impressions

Thankfully, Zayn speaks first, shooting Liam a humorous “Hey, who’s that in my room?” as he walks into the room while taking his leather jacket off. All through it, Louis is basically still standing paralysed by the door.  
“That guy in MY room is Harry.” Liam jokes back and looks at Harry, who hasn’t said anything -on account of him also being too busy staring at Louis- and continues: “Say hi.”  
“Hi!” Harry smiles widely, showing his perfectly aligned white teeth, speaking in a beautiful deep voice that almost sends shivers through Louis’ spine.  
“Hi, Harry!” Zayn looks at Louis and smirks from where he’s sat on his bed, probably having already read him easily as he devours those big old philosophy books of his. “I’m Zayn and this is…”  
“I’m Louis!” He introduces himself, finally walking into the room and closing the wood door behind himself.  
“Hey, Payno, shoot us a beer!” Zayn demands, and Louis that’s when Louis decides to start paying attention and being present again. He can’t spend the whole night staring at this beautiful man, after all, as sad as that is.  
“Sure, man, but you’re paying us back. You want one too, Tommo?”  
“As long as Zayn’s paying…”  
And over the next couple hours they get to know Harry, exchange stories about uni, talk about music; finding out that Harry likes mostly trap music but his favourite musician is Drake. He also likes rock music, especially Fleetwood Mac ("There's nothing in this world that could convince me that Stevie Nicks isn't God."), so he shares some common interests with Louis and Zayn. Basically, he likes any music style. He’s… nice. They don’t talk about anything too deep so Louis can’t exactly know, but he doesn’t show any sound of being impolite or anything like that. He can’t shake the feeling that there’s something off about Harry, like there’s an unkindness he hides somewhere. He just seems like the kind of person who is used to having things his way.   
Physically, the only way to describe him is pretty. Not just beautiful or handsome, but pretty. He has symmetrical facial features, a pretty nose which is delicate despite being big, big deep green eyes that are beautifully framed by long thick lashes and obviously plucked eyebrows, and perfectly shaped pink plush lips. His mannerisms are delicate, the first ones Louis notices are his habit of fixing his hair in his bandana or playing with his curls, circling one on the tip of one of his long fingers, and the way he gesticulates when he speaks. It makes for an interesting contrast with his deep voice, his big hands, his muscular athletic body and basketball shirt, which are all stereotypically manly. What he can gather from his first impression of him, in the beginning of their first interaction, is this: Harry Styles looks like a walking contradiction. He’s enticing, his looks and the way he acts make you want to get to know him, which to Louis feels like an empty promise.  
At some point, about three or four hours after they started talking and drinking, the conversations comes to be about their courses and Zayn and Louis mention they’re studying politics, sociology and eastern European studies and they organically change the subject to politics.  
“So, where do you stand with all these stuff?” Harry knows it’s a weird question, but he asks it anyway.  
Louis laughs and says “What, where do I stand on… all of politics? Every single issue?”, prompting Harry to look at him like he’s ridiculous  
“Yep, exactly. Perfectly sound question.” Louis rolls his eyes  
“Generally, I’m a communist, I guess. Love the idea of revolution and I sadly don’t believe things can be solved any other way.” He pauses for a bit with this pensive look on his face, lips pressed together, brows furrowed and eyes looking at the ceiling, trying to find a way to explain his train of thought. “Don’t know exactly what subdivision of communist I am, though. That’s what I’m hoping to find out with all this studying I’m doing this year. Our Zayn here is a firm Marxist-Leninist, think I might lean in that direction too.”  
“You really do believe in revolution, then?” It doesn’t sound aggressive, as Harry’s calm tone of voice and fixed stare merely indicates that he’s genuinely interested.  
“Yes… I take it you don’t?” Zayn, this time, asks, as if prompting him to elaborate and share his point of view.  
“Not really, no.” There is a pause. “Just personally think it’s a bit harsh, is all. There must be another way that doesn’t involve a literal armed revolution. There has to be some kind of reform that works.”  
“Not that I know of, there isn’t.” Louis argues, pensively. And, really, the problem starts now. Louis thinks “bingo” because he guesses that is what he sensed was off about Harry, that’s where his unkindness shows up. It begins a back-and-forth that excitedly goes on for a while and damages Louis’ opinion of Harry. It still isn’t aggressive at all, they just let it show that they’re passionate about the topic.  
“So what are people supposed to do? Just give up their companies and money?” “Yes, but that isn’t much of a downside compared to how many people would be able to live a decent life if the money and the means of production were well distributed.”  
“It shouldn’t be necessary, though. It is fair of me to worry about all people, about their comfort.”  
“I get you, mate, but try to see it this way: do you believe that financial comfort is as much of a basic human right as the right to be fed and housed every day?” Zayn chimes in again to ask.  
“No, of course having food and a safe house is more important. I just don’t think you can’t have both. I’m sure there is some reform that works.”  
“What do you mean?“ Liam asks, speaking for the first time since this subject came up. Which is just very Liam, he’s very wise but he leans more on the quiet side, and he isn’t too interested in politics- which is fine.  
“Organized union demanding labour rights, a strong economy for everyone to have jobs and some kind of political reform for the government to require less taxes to function while also maintaining and bettering public health and education.” It takes Harry a while to get it all out, as he speaks slowly and tries to find the rights words to express his thoughts.  
“I agree with you there, mate.” Liam says  
“I understand that, but I don’t think that’s likely to work for long. I do think a good economy under a capitalist regime and quality high paying jobs for every single person are mutually exclusive because capitalism simply doesn’t work without inequality. Capitalism requires wealth, which requires deep inequality. That’s the way the system’s built.”  
“Some inequality is healthy, I’m just saying there has to be a way for people to be able to afford a decent life.”  
It goes on for a while and it kind of bothers Louis, he feels a little guilty for being so annoyed by it. You see, he isn’t one to harshly judge people on their political views often at all, he almost always respects peoples’ right to free thought and to form their own opinions, as much as he wishes people to respect his own points of view. What does bug him a little bit, though, are biased opinions. And, through the course of that conversation, as Harry talks about finding it unfair that “well-off people” would have to lose “their” means of production (and power, even though he doesn’t say that), that’s what he sees in everything he says. Louis doesn’t fancy himself to be the owner of the truth, all-wise and judgy,, but that is objectively a bad reason to favour reforms as opposed to revolution. No one can deny that.   
The disagreement doesn’t do much to help Harry’s image of Louis either. He was starting to find him really interesting, as he is really funny and handsome. Now, though, Louis seems a bit arrogant. Harry doesn’t feel too comfortable with having his world views criticized. The interaction just leaves a bad taste in his mouth, and he can’t deny his good first impression of Louis turned sour really quickly. In the end, after about only a few minutes, they agree to disagree and start talking lightly about other things and having fun, because it wasn’t anything too serious at all and they’re not there to have an actual discussion with Liam’s (who characteristically doesn’t participate much) friend.  
A while later, when Louis and Zayn finally make it back to their dorm, Zayn asks:  
“You liked him, didn’t you?”  
“What? No, did you hear what he said about people having the right to inequality?”  
“Dude, I don’t think that’s what he meant.” He laughs. “I’ve heard of him before, Harry Styles. He comes from money I think. It’s only natural he would have his world view in mind when thinking about that. And he’s got a point if you really try and see it that way, I’ve met far worse people in the left.”  
“That’s true, I s’ppose. It just frustrates me because he doesn’t exactly seem unintelligent, y’know? I can’t blame his views on anything other than just not being interested in learning.”  
“Oh, so he doesn’t care about poor people now?” Zayn smirks “That’s quite the reach you did there, after a five minute disagreement. Already made the guy into an elitist.”  
“Well, not my fault. That’s what he let on, man.”  
“That’s a very strong first impression, I just don’t think we know him that well yet.”  
“And I don’t want to, either.”  
“Mate, try and convince yourself of that as much as you want. That’s not what the way you literally stopped to stare at him when we got there said, though.”  
“I did not do that.”  
Whether he likes it or not, the fact is that Louis keeps running into Harry. He’s in the corridors and common spaces around the university when Louis walks around it, they meet in the general library and even in cafes. Honestly, it’s pissing Louis off because every single time he sees Harry he seems a bit more like a dick, in kind of small ways. In the café, for example, he sees Harry being a bit rude to the attendant because they didn’t have some of the ingredients for the drink he ordered. In the library he sees Harry putting his book back into the shelf instead of taking it to the librarian, as is instructed in every single library policy ever. Louis thinks he may be nitpicking and exaggerating, but, honestly? It’s not his fault he seems a bit rude and unapproachable, in his Gucci clothing and expensive shoes. Obviously, he doesn’t full on dislike the guy or even really think about him outside of their unnecessarily high number of chance encounters, he just doesn’t have a very good impression of him.  
Zayn insists it’s a crush every time he tells him about bumping into Harry when it happens, but Louis just attributes that to his best friend is a dickhead. No news there. Like, of course the guy is good looking and Louis can’t deny that, but that doesn’t change the fact that he seems like a bit of a douchebag with some elitist views.

Over the next few weeks, he hears a few things about this Harry Styles character. As Zayn had said, he comes from money. His mother owns one of the most important galleries in London, the Twist Institute, which take her last name; and his father is a famous lawyer. They lived a very luxurious life in West Brompton as a cliché happy rich family and nothing ever lacked in their lives. He has a sister who is a few years older than him and is a law graduate, someone even said she is currently studying a masters degree to take over their father’s law firm. Harry has a reputation for being popular, very interested in sports –specially basketball-, going to most frat parties, having many friends and several short relationships with equally beautiful and rich boys and girls, and generally liking nice and fancy things. That’s all he heard, and it’s a lot considering he wasn’t exactly asking around. Harry just has a reputation.  
To Louis, he sounds just like any rich person. A liking for being surrounded by anything that reminds them that they’re rich, a habit of treating people, feelings and relationships as objects that can be replaced, and many people kissing their ass. Nothing new, nothing interesting. Which isn’t what most people seem to think, in Harry’s case. Everyone seems to want a part of him, the impression that Louis gets is that it’s as if he has this beautiful surreal world in which he lives and which he creates for himself and everybody wants to join him in it. People seem to be willing to do anything for Harry to look at them.  
He understands it. Really, he does. The man is beautiful, and he does seem live a fun life in his little privileged world where nothing must actually get to him, which is the beauty of having money. It basically means you don’t have to worry about the things most people struggle with on a daily basis, and that’s a very appealing concept. Louis can empathize with all of that, he just sees as sort of vain. It’s empty. He has met rich people who seemed really interesting and like they had things to say, but Harry Styles just doesn’t seem to be one of them. When Louis looks at him, that’s all he sees: signs of the guy’s wealth. How is he supposed to be interested in that? Not to be judgmental, but wouldn’t that make him a little bit superficial?   
Those are the questions that run through his mind when he hears people talk about Harry Styles; that’s what he thinks about. It’s not the man himself that is intriguing to Louis, it’s people’s obsession with him and everything that he does that racks his brains. He just doesn’t understand why everyone seems so fascinated by a man who seems so… disenchanting, other than his looks. That’s how Louis would describe him.


	3. mouth.

As time passes, Louis honestly expects it to stop happening. He thinks it might be one of those situations where you become aware of something –in this case, someone- that has been around the whole time but you’ve never noticed because you weren’t paying attention, but now that you know of them you start to see them everywhere. And it’s just because you start to register every time you see them, which you didn’t before. But it can’t be. Because he swears to God that Harry Styles is still everywhere, for fuck’s sake.  
Obviously, it’s just coincidences and Louis is wrong. Harry is just living his life as normal, he spends his time doing the exact same things he always does. He studies, which this semester has been going great so he’s extra focused, since he’s finally getting to study his favourite classes: early modern bodies and image/object in modernism. He finds it fascinating, there’s something about the aesthetics of a society in it’s breaking point –which the 20th century absolutely was, in terms of Europe- that is beautiful and just so classy. Especially impressionism, it has always been Harry’s favourite of the modernist movements, even if it is one of the earlier ones cronologically. Pierre-August Renoir is definitely his favourite painter. He supposes what he loves about it is how it’s definitely a break from what had been done before, but it still looks very delicate, vibrant, filled with feelings and beautiful from afar and once you get a closer look you realize that the brushwork is loose and whatever is being painted isn’t that extraordinary at all. The art itself doesn’t strive to be real, it just aims to have beautiful lighting and strong colours. And that’s just the way life should be lived, he supposes, isn’t it?  
He hasn’t just been studying, though. He has been seeing his family, just the other week they went to the opening of an exposition the museum is holding, which was fun. Harry loves these formal events, he loves impressing people, charming them up and he loves knowing that all of those functions that come with owning the museum will be his someday. That talking about art, organizing expositions and being charming is going to be his job. He has also been hanging out with his friends and Emily, they’ve been going to parties, getting smashed and high, and games and just being stupid, having fun, and causing fuss which would turn into rumours. It’s the best, he lives for it.  
He has the best group of friends, the closest to him are Sarah, Mitch, Niall and Clare. Sarah is a very well-liked beautiful and charming woman with a little bit of an attitude and a great sense of humour who dreams of being an artist, and everyone knows that if it depends on her talent, then she’s going far. She dates Mitch, who is a bit quiet and shy but as loyal as can be and a wonderful mom friend and boyfriend; he’s very intellectual and academically gifted and plans on working in historical research once he graduates. Out of all of them, he’s the one who least participates in their shaneningans, claiming he’s not interested in getting arrested any time soon. Niall, though, very much participates in their craziness, he and Harry are usually the instigators of whatever stupid thing they find themselves doing. He’s absurdly charismatic, possibly the funniest and most energetic person Harry has ever met and probably the cause of the side of Harry’s music taste which enjoys rock music. Him and Clare, who must be the most popular girl in their course and Sarah’s best friend ever. She’s very kind, focused on her aesthetics and there are people who ship her and Harry- little do they know she’s much more interested in girls.  
The point is: He’s been busy. He barely notices an increase in the frequency in which he sees Louis; which he did before they officially first met. Even before, he sometimes noticed the loud, beautiful, popular, guy with brown hair and a small frame walking around campus. They have never had any reason to meet, not having many friends in common –except Liam- and studying different courses, but he is just one of those people you notice. He even thought the guy seemed nice. Which, obviously, changed after their first encounter. At first he thought they got along well and he may even have liked him, but then he seemed really arrogant and judgemental, basically blaming Harry for his lifestyle.  
Harry doesn’t think it’s fair that Louis’ solution for every single problem in the world is that he should have to give up everything his family worked really hard for to give him a comfortable life for people who don’t work as hard. He doesn’t think forceful and violent actions solve anything, he honestly believes in changing minds, having a strong economy and jobs for everyone, because the economy itself will do the rest. And, most of all, he didn’t like the way Louis was incapable of seeing his point and coming to a middle ground solution, or even agreeing to disagree.  
It’s also not as if Harry isn’t a leftist. He obviously is, he’s very passionate about LGBT rights and social equality, his family is very philatropical and they’re always donating. He’s been to a lot of gay pride parades and one or two political protests in his life, so he figures he does more than most. It’s very rude of Louis to act as if he has no political consciousness and he doesn’t like it. What frustrates him is that there are topics that are very close to his heart, that make him very emotional especially when it comes to his own rights as a man who likes both men and women or the rights of the women in his life who he loves and supports very much, and he hadn’t had the chance to explain that to Louis so he thinks Harry is just some unopinionated idiot.  
It’s not as if he thinks about it too much, though. It doesn’t really bother him, it’s just something he thinks about when he sees Louis. Which is, as Louis also thinks, annoyingly often.

There’s a party the following Friday. It’s at Niall’s frat house, which is unbelievably packed, and it honestly is chaotic before even it starts. The house is big, but clearly not enough to accommodate everyone they invited. They bought snacks, which were basically a lot of bags of Doritos, in all varieties, and those classic red party paper cups. It took a while to get every thing that could broken out of the way or into a bedroom, to avoid any acidents. They also cleaned the house a little bit- it’s going to getting dirty either way, isn’t it?- and instructed everyone to bring their own drinks- mostly beer, wine, soda and vodka to mix.  
Niall’s house, in which he lives with four other friends called Ian, James, Oliver and Alex, is a white two story simple white bungalow which was specifically planned to accommodate students, since it was built so close to the university. The top floor has five small bedrooms with pretty standard furniture. Plain white walls, a twin bed, a desk and a bookshelf, and beyond that whatever each boy pleases. Niall, for example, has band posters sticked to the wall and messages from friends written on them, which include some of Harry’s drawings. It also has two bathrooms, which can get as disgusting as you would expect for a house with five boys if Niall doesn’t constantly scream at them to clean the house properly every week.   
The first floor has the kitchen, which isn’t too big but it’s enough for them, one bathroom and the large living room- which is where they’re going to be partying. It’s practically empty if not for the couches for people to sit on, some chairs and the table on the corner, where they’re going to keep the snacks and the cups and open drinks. There’s an empty space in the middle of the room to make for an impromptu dance floor.  
By the time Harry arrives, it’s starting to get fun. Almost everyone is already there and some people are already really drunk. They’re playing a top hits playlist, people are dancing and there’s someone on top of the table. When Niall open the door to him, he says:  
“Finallyyyy!! Come in, man!”  
“C’mon, Ni! You know I never arrive on time!” He replies, walking into the room. By then Amelia, Niall’s girlfriend, gets to them and greets him also. He asks about Clare, Mitch and Sarah and he’s told that they’re already there and Niall thinks they’re on the backyard. They go there to meet to them, talk for a bit and then Niall has an idea:  
“Hey, we should play truth or dare!”  
“Maybe we should, Harry hasn’t even had a single drink yet.” Clare responds, excitedly.  
“Are you planning on being sober tonight, Harold?” Mitch mocks him.  
“Not at all, honey.”  
“We’re totally playing then. Who’s in?” Sarah asks, and everyone confirms they’re interested in playing. “Well, then, we should go get the drinks. What do we want?”  
They debate for a few minutes but decide on getting beer, and whoever doesn’t answer has to chug a cup.  
A few hours later, Harry has had about four cans- having refused to comply to the game about 7 times-, and they decide to go dance for a bit inside.  
It’s then that he sees Louis, stood by a corner talking to some friends, looks at Mitch and says:  
“Oh, I know that guy!”  
“Yeah, I’ve heard.” He senses that Harry might be looking at the guy a bit too much.  
“You know he doesn’t like you, right?”  
“What?! Why?” He sounds truly offended, voice going a bit high. “If anyone has the right to not like anyone in this situation, it’s me.”  
“No idea, mate. It’s just what I heard.” And that just won’t do, Harry decides right there and then.  
“I’ll talk to him.” He says, determinedely, and walks away.  
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Harry!” He shouts behind Harry.  
“You know you shouldn’t have told him.” Sarah tells him.  
“Yes, of course he was going to try and get the guy to like him. That’s just… very Harry.”  
“Do you remember that time he was drunk and decided I was mad at him so he made me spend the whole night talking to him to make sure that I wasn’t, asking what he could do? Those things get to him, man.”  
Louis got into the party at about 10 pm, so maybe two hours ago, and he has spent them drinking and talking to some people he and Zayn met at some protest. Liam was the one who convinced them to all go to the party, because he’s a social butterfly and he’s kind of close to Niall, who invited them.  
Across the room, Louis is talking to Zayn about some girl he’s interested in when Harry grabs his arm and takes him a few steps away, leaving a very dumbfounded and confused Zayn. Louis looks at him, a raised eyebrow and mouth flat in a line, absolutely not understating what’s going on at all.  
“What the fuck?”  
“You don’t like me.”  
“What?”  
“Why don’t you like me?”  
“Where did you get that from?”  
“Someone told me.”  
“Is that why you literally grabbed me by the arm in the middle of a conversation? Are you insane?”  
“No, I just wanted to talk.”  
“Why?”  
“Because you don’t like me.”  
“I have absolutely nothing against you. Why do you even care anyway? Do YOU particularly like me?”  
“Not particularly.”  
“Then… Why?”  
“I just want to know why.” Someone bumps into them, and Harry has an incredible idea, in his drunk mind. “Wait.”  
He grabs Louis’ arms again and takes him to a closet across the house.  
“Harry? What the fuck?” He pushes Louis into the closet and walks into it, closing the door and locking it. “Let me out!”  
“Talk to me.” He says, in a sad tone, pouting.  
“Okay.” Louis sighs, accepting that he’s going to have to talk to Harry. “I’ll talk to you. What do you want to know?”  
“Why don’t you like me?”  
“I have nothing against you. I’m just not particularly interested in you.”  
“Okay. Why?”  
“What do you mean ‘why’? That’s not how not being interested in something or someone works. You’re not interested in them because they didn’t give you a reason to be interested.”  
“I still feel like you don’t like me.”  
“I’m obviously annoyed at you right now. Also, who told you I don’t like you?”  
“Mitch did.”  
“Who’s Mitch?”  
“My best friend.”  
“Why did your best friend tell you I don’t like you? I don’t even know him. Or you, particularly, for that matter.”  
“I don’t know. Mitch doesn’t lie, though, so you don’t like me.”  
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Harry. I have nothing against you.”  
“Why don’t you like me, Louis?”  
“Stop being dramatic or I’m breaking this door open and escaping.”  
“See! You think I’m dramatic!”  
“If I prove to you that I have nothing against you, will you shut up and let me go? I want to enjoy this party, you fucker.”  
“How are you going to do that?” It sounds like a dare, Harry kind of knows it even before the words leave his lips. Maybe it’s the alcohol that makes him not want to hold back his impulse for flirting. He looks into Louis’ gorgeous blue eyes, then to his thin lips, and then up into his eyes again.  
Louis gets it.  
And, just like that, he joins their lips very briefly, as if it really is just to prove a point. Harry only has the time to register that it felt good before following the impulse to kiss Louis back, doing it again. And again. And again. And then he stays in the kiss a bit longer, lightly biting Louis’ bottom lip and then running his tongue through it. He presses it lightly and Louis gets the message, opening his mouth a little for them to join their tongues. By now, Harry has a hand pressing Louis’ jaw and the other one holding his hair, and Louis has his arms around Harry’s neck. Louis moans from the contact and it’s then that Harry realises the mistake he’s made. Fuck, fuck. Holy shit. He moves away from Louis’ mouth.  
“I have a girlfriend.” He looks down, but not before seeing the looks of confusion and then disappointment in Louis’ face.  
“Well, now I really don’t like you. I’m not even kidding, if you don’t let me the fuck out right now…!”  
“I’m so sorry. I’m kinda drunk.” He says, while opening the door for Louis to go wherever he pleases. He’s going to get even more drunk than he already is, probably.  
“Well, so am I! That’s no excuse, is it?” He shouts, clearly angry.  
Before Harry can even respond, he’s already out the door.


End file.
